Chapter 3—Spiritual Darkness in the Early Church

The apostle Paul wrote that the day of Christ would not come “unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” And furthermore, “the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7.) Even at that early date the apostle saw errors creeping in that would prepare the way for the papacy. 5TC 30.2

Little by little, “the mystery of lawlessness” carried on its deceptive work. The customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church, held back for a time by fierce persecutions under paganism. But as persecution ended, Christianity turned away from the humble simplicity of Christ and adopted the pomp of pagan priests and rulers. The emperor Constantine's professed conversion caused great rejoicing. But now the work of corruption progressed rapidly. Paganism, which seemed to have been conquered, became the conqueror. Its doctrines and superstitions were merged into the faith of those who claimed to be followers of Christ. 5TC 30.3

This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in “the man of sin” that prophecy had foretold. That false religion is a masterpiece of Satan, a monument to his effort to seat himself on the throne to rule the earth according to his will. 5TC 31.1

It is one of Rome's leading doctrines that God has given the pope supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all the world. More than this, the pope has been called “Lord God the Pope” and declared infallible (see Appendix). The same claim that Satan urged in the wilderness of temptation he still urges through the Church of Rome, and vast numbers give him worship. 5TC 31.2

But those who reverence God meet the papacy's false claim as Christ met Satan: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Luke 4:8). God has never appointed any man head of the church. Papal supremacy is opposed to the Scriptures. The pope can have no power over Christ's church except by claiming it falsely. The Roman Catholic Church charges Protestants with willfully separating from the true church, but she is the one that departed from “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). 5TC 31.3

Satan knew very well that it was the Holy Scriptures that enabled the Savior to resist his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” In order for Satan to maintain his control over people and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them ignorant of the Bible. He must conceal and suppress its sacred truths. For hundreds of years the Roman Church prohibited the circulation of the Bible. The people were forbidden to read it. Priests and leaders interpreted its teachings to support their boastful claims. In this way the pope came to be acknowledged by almost everyone as God's appointed ruler on earth. 5TC 31.4

How the Sabbath Was “Changed”

Prophecy declared that the papacy would “intend to change times and law” (Daniel 7:25). As a substitute for idol worship, the adoration of images and relics was gradually introduced into Christian worship. The decree of a general council (see Appendix) finally established this idolatry. Rome dared to remove from the law of God the second commandment, which forbids image worship, and to divide the tenth commandment into two in order to preserve the number at ten. 5TC 32.1

Unconsecrated leaders of the church also tampered with the fourth commandment, to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day that God had blessed and sanctified (Genesis 2:2, 3). In its place they exalted the festival the heathen observed as “the venerable day of the sun.” In the first centuries all Christians had kept the true Sabbath, but Satan worked to bring about his will. The church made Sunday a festival in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Religious services were held on it, yet it was thought of as a day of recreation. In addition, the true Sabbath was still being sacredly observed. 5TC 32.2

Before Christ came to earth, Satan had led the Jews to load the Sabbath with rigorous rules, making it a burden. Now, taking advantage of the false light in which he had placed it, Satan caused people to despise it as a “Jewish” institution. While Christians generally continued to observe Sunday as a joyous festival, he led them to make the Sabbath a day of sadness and gloom in order to show their hatred for Judaism. 5TC 32.3

The emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire (see Appendix). The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects and honored by Christians. The bishops of the church urged him to do this. Thirsting for power, they recognized that if both Christians and heathen observed the same day, it would advance the power and glory of the church. But while many God-fearing Christians gradually came to think of Sunday as having some degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment. 5TC 32.4

The archdeceiver had not completed his work. He was determined to exercise his power through his appointed ruler, the proud pontiff who claimed to represent Christ. Vast councils were held to which dignitaries came from all the world. Nearly every council pressed the Sabbath down a little lower while exalting Sunday. This is how the pagan festival finally came to be honored as a divine institution, while people declared the Bible Sabbath a relic of Judaism and pronounced a curse on its observance. 5TC 33.1

The great apostate had succeeded in exalting himself “above all that is called God or that is worshiped” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He had dared to change the only commandment in the divine law that points to the true and living God. The fourth commandment reveals God as the Creator. To commemorate the work of creation, God sanctified the seventh day as a rest day for mankind. It was designed to keep the living God always before people's minds as the object of worship. Satan works to turn people from obedience to God's law. To accomplish this, he directs his efforts especially against the one commandment that points to God as the Creator. 5TC 33.2

Protestants now claim that Christ's resurrection on Sunday made it the Christian Sabbath. But neither Christ nor His apostles gave any such honor to the day. Sunday observance had its origin in that “mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) that had begun its work even in Paul's day. What reason can anyone give for a change that the Scriptures do not authorize? 5TC 33.3

In the sixth century, the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism was replaced by the papacy. The dragon had given the beast “his power, his throne, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2). 5TC 33.4

Now began the 1,260 years of papal oppression that the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation had foretold (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5-7; see Appendix). Christians were forced to choose: either yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death. Now the words of Jesus were fulfilled: “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake” (Luke 21:16, 17). 5TC 33.5

The world became a huge battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found shelter in hiding and obscurity. “The woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 12:6). 5TC 34.1

The Roman Catholic Church's rise to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. People transferred their faith from Christ to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, they looked to the pope and to the priests to whom he gave authority. The pope was their earthly mediator. He stood in the place of God to them. To turn aside even a little from his requirements was reason enough for severe punishment. In this way the minds of the people were turned away from God to fallible and cruel men—more than that, to the prince of darkness himself who exercised his power through them. When human beings suppress the Scriptures and come to regard themselves as supreme, we can expect only fraud, deception, and degrading evil. 5TC 34.2

Dangerous Days for the Church

God's faithful believers were few. At times it seemed that error would triumph completely, and true religion would be banished from the earth. People lost sight of the gospel, and they were burdened with difficult requirements. The church taught them to trust to their own works to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship of relics, the building of churches, shrines, and altars, the payment of large sums to the church treasury—the church required them to do these things in order to appease God's wrath or to gain His favor. 5TC 34.3

About the close of the eighth century, those who supported the pope claimed that in the first ages of the church the bishops of Rome had possessed the same spiritual power which they now said they had. Monks forged ancient writings. Decrees of councils that no one had heard of before were discovered, establishing the universal supremacy of the pope from the earliest times. (See Appendix.) 5TC 34.4

These developments perplexed the few faithful ones who were building on the sure foundation of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10, 11). Growing tired from the constant struggle against persecution, fraud, and every other obstacle that Satan could invent, some who had been faithful became discouraged. To gain peace and security for their property and their lives, they turned away from the sure foundation. Others were not swayed by the opposition of their enemies. 5TC 35.1

Image worship became widespread. People burned candles in front of images and offered prayers to them. The most senseless customs prevailed. Reason itself seemed to have lost its power. When even the priests and bishops were pleasure-loving and corrupt, it is no wonder that the people who looked to them for guidance were sunken in ignorance and vice. 5TC 35.2

In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII proclaimed that the church had never erred, nor would it ever err, according to the Scriptures. But he offered no Scripture proofs to accompany his assertion. The proud pontiff also claimed power to remove emperors. This promoter of infallibility showed his character as a tyrant by his treatment of the German emperor, Henry IV. For daring to disregard the pope's authority, this monarch was expelled from the church and dethroned. The pope's decree encouraged Henry's own princes to rebel against him. 5TC 35.3

Henry felt the importance of making peace with Rome. With his wife and faithful servant he crossed the Alps in the middle of winter, so that he could humble himself before the pope. When he reached Gregory's castle, he was taken into an outer court. There, in the severe cold of winter, with uncovered head and bare feet, he waited for the pope's permission to come into his presence. Not until he had spent three days fasting and making confession, did the pope grant him pardon. Even then it was only on condition that the emperor would wait for the permission of the pope before again taking the symbols of royalty or exercising its power. Gregory was elated by his triumph. He boasted that it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings. 5TC 35.4

What a sharp contrast between this haughty pope and Christ, who portrays Himself as pleading at the door of the heart to be let in. He taught His disciples, “Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26). 5TC 36.1

Even before the papacy was established, the teachings of heathen philosophers had exerted an influence in the church. Many still clung to the beliefs of pagan philosophy and urged others to study it as a means of extending their influence among the heathen. Serious errors came into the Christian faith this way. 5TC 36.2

How False Doctrines Came In

One such major teaching was the belief that we are immortal by nature and are conscious in death. This doctrine laid the foundation for Rome to establish prayer to the saints and the adoration of the Virgin Mary. From this sprang also the heresy of eternal torment for those who refuse to repent. This belief became part of the papal faith in the church's early years. 5TC 36.3

This opened the way for still another invention of paganism—purgatory, which the church used to terrify the superstitious people. This heresy claimed that a place of torment existed in which souls of those who do not deserve eternal damnation suffer punishment for their sins, and from which, when they are freed from impurity, they are admitted to heaven. (See Appendix.) 5TC 36.4

Rome needed still another lie to be able to profit from the fears and vices of her followers: the doctrine of indulgences. The church promised full remission of sins past, present, and future to all who would enlist in the pope's wars to punish his enemies or to exterminate those who dared to deny his spiritual supremacy. By paying money to the church, people could free themselves from sin and also release the souls of friends who had died and were being kept in the tormenting flames. In ways like these Rome filled her treasuries and sustained the magnificence, luxury, and vice of the pretended representatives of Jesus, who had nowhere to lay His head. (See Appendix.) 5TC 36.5

The Lord's Supper had been replaced by the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. Papal priests pretended to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual “body and blood of Christ.”^{1Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures on “The Real Presence,” lecture 8, section 3, paragraph 26.} With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimed the power of creating God, the Creator of all things. Christians were required to confess their faith in this Heaven-insulting heresy or face death. 5TC 37.1

In the thirteenth century, the church established the most terrible weapon of the papacy—the Inquisition. In its secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men. Unseen in the midst of them stood an angel of God, taking the dreadful record of their evil decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible for human eyes to see. “BABYLON THE GREAT” was “drunk with the blood of the saints” (see Revelation 17:5, 6). The mangled bodies of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance on that apostate power. 5TC 37.2

The papacy had become the world's despot. Kings and emperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. For hundreds of years people accepted the doctrines of Rome without question. They honored her clergy and sustained them liberally. Never since has the Catholic Church attained to greater dignity, magnificence, or power. 5TC 37.3

But “the noon of the papacy was the midnight of the world.”^{2James A. Wylie, History of Protestantism, book 1, chapter 4.} The Scriptures were almost unknown. The papal leaders hated the light that would reveal their sins. Because God's law, the standard of righteousness, had been removed, they practiced vice without restraint. The palaces of popes and other church leaders were scenes of vile immorality. Some of the popes were guilty of crimes so revolting that secular rulers tried to depose them as monsters too evil to be tolerated. For centuries Europe made no progress in learning, arts, or civilization. A moral and intellectual paralysis had fallen on Christendom. 5TC 37.4

Such conditions were the results of banishing the Word of God! 5TC 37.5